


where the nice people live

by yehetno



Series: got a feeling about you [1]
Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, JINJIN IS SO AWKWARD IN THIS, M/M, also moon bin and rocky, dido's white flag playing in the bg while i drown, i cannot be the only who is on this ship, not so low-key sanha/eunwoo action, these ships are a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7315075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yehetno/pseuds/yehetno
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moon Bin is nice, but Myungjun is nicer.  Well, no he's not, but he's not about to let Jinwoo know that.</p><p>(OR Sanha kind of, maybe, abducts a cat, and Myungjun crushes hard on its owner.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. nicer than nice

**Author's Note:**

> forgive me (and typos).

If one looks hard enough, they can spot the tell-tale signs that Kim Myungjun is annoyed.  His eye twitches, and he forces laughter until he sends a death glare in the general direction of the source of his annoyance.  Usually that person is Sanha, who, fun fact, cannot go three consecutive minutes without screaming at the top of his lungs.

The point being that Myungjun gives plenty of forewarning before snapping.  That qualifies him as nice enough.

Sure, he could be like Moon Bin who just laughs it off with an angelic smile.  Myungjun is 87% sure that something went wrong during the creation of Bin which blessed him with unlimited patience.  That or he's just really fake.

Aside from Bin, Dongmin is just about the only person that Myungjun associates with willingly.  Even if Dongmin is dating Yoon Sanha.   _Yoon Sanha._ Dongmin must have extraordinary patience as well.

Maybe Myungjun is the mean friend.  That's not so bad.  Scratch that, whatever it is, it can't be quantified as good.  Myungjun will package it to his benefit; he has  _standards._  It's not that he's overly opinionated and dislikes people younger than him, it's that screaming is non-conducive to studying and general calmness.  Myungjun has the temperament of normal people, and all of his friends are borderline saints.

 

//

 

"I FOUND A CAT!"

And Myungjun hates Sanha again.  He can already feel the muscles in his face twitching.  However, since he outranks everyone else in terms of age and is somehow the most responsible, he's obligated to investigate whatever Sanha is on about.

He trudges out of his room to find Sanha with a dumb smile plastered on his face and a orange kitten in his hands.

The problem with that being that the kitten very clearly has a collar with a bright blue tag affixed to it.

"Did you steal a cat?"  Myungjun blurts out, confounded by Sanha's general existence.

"I just told you I found it," Sanha laughs it off, bringing the kitten to his cheek.

Myungjun crosses his arms, "Where did you find it?"

 _This_ , this is what trips Sanha up.  Suddenly, he's a sulking kindergartner, lips pushed out, scuffing the tip of his shoe against the floor as he hugs his rightfully found cat.  He mumbles, "In the hallway."

"Which hallway?"

"The one between the front door and the elevator," Sanha squeaks, unable to look Myungjun directly in the eyes.

"Did you say something about a cat?" asks Bin, who finally comes out from his room.  He coos when he sees the young cat in Sanha's hands, completely oblivious to the conversation that is happening between Myungjun and Sanha.

Myungjun walks up to the kitten, taking a look at the tag.  Aloha.  Aroha.  Aloha.  Aroha.  (So he waffles on the pronunciation, that's not important.)  Beneath the cat's name is the contact number for the owners.  Myungjun pulls his phone out, dialing the number slowly, checking between the tag and digits that he's pressing.

He clicks his tongue and shakes his head at Sanha as he starts the outgoing call. "I cannot believe you abducted a cat."

"I rescued it," Sanha whines with another pout, attempting to soften Myungjun's anger with cuteness and failing.

Sighing, Myungjun pinches the bridge of nose as he waits for the call to connect.  When it does, Myungjun perks up, "Hello?"

"Mwjh," A deep voice mumbles or grunts.  In either case, it's gibberish to Myungjun.

So he repeats himself, "Hello?"

"Hiii," The deep voice brightens up considerably.

"Do you own a cat?"

A brief pause as whoever is on the other end pulls away from the phone to shout something along the lines of "where's the cat" to someone named Minhyuk. It takes an unintelligible shout back for Myungjun to get his answer, "Why are you asking?"

"Because there's an orange kitten in the hands of my roommate, and this number was on its tag."

"Uhm," the man says in a awkwardly high pitched tone, "where should we pick up our cat?"

Myungjun gives the stranger their address.  Twice.  

"We'll be there soon," the stranger says, ending the call without giving Myungjun a name or expected time of arrival.  Considering the struggle with the address, Myungjun isn't all that confident in his ability to get from point A to point B.

He stares at his roommates fawning over the kitten.  Sanha has placed it on the counter, and Bin is in the middle of trying to get on the cat's level through mimicking all on its actions, tilting his head to the side and blinking wide eyes.  Sometimes Bin does cute things as naturally as he breathes, without thought or real effort. It irks Myungjun.  (Not that he's jealous or anything.  Definitely  _not_ that.)

Sanha is rummaging through the cabinets for something when someone knocks on the front door.  Myungjun cocks an eyebrow.  Aloha or Aroha's owner must have gotten here very quickly; a fact that surprises him since his interaction with the man on the phone indicated a lengthy wait time.

He opens the door to find two men, and he just about melts.  Marshmallows have replaced his bones.  Myungjun could probably stare at the man directly in front of him for the rest of forever.  If he thinks that Moon Bin has the demeanor of an angel, then this person in front of him has to be the real thing.

"Do you have our cat?" asks the person at whom Myungjun is not staring.

"Yes," Myungjun says belatedly, waving them in so that they could amicably retrieve their cat.

"What are you doing?!" Myungjun practically yells at Sanha, who is pouring milk into a shallow bowl.

Bin looks up, still acting like as cat with his hands curled into fists resting against his collarbones.  "Milk?  Cats like milk," Bin rationalizes.

Sanha nods, "I've seen it in all the movies."

"Yoon Sanha and Moon Bin, do either of you know anything about cats?"

Bin straightens up, dropping the cat facade, and scratches the back of his head.  Sanha slowly pulls the milk jug against his chest.  "It was Bin's idea," Sanha murmurs.

"Sanha!" Bin whines, looking at his friend, who makes a point of staring at the floor.

Myungjun turns back to the cat's original owners, "Is that your cat?"

"Aroha!" The slightly taller one shouts, rushing toward the apathetic kitten.

"I'm Park Jinwoo, and I am very sorry that Minhyuk just shouted," the man introduces himself and sticks his hand out.

"Myungjun.  Kim Myungjun.  And I'm sorry that Sanha stole your cat," Myungjun replies as he shakes Jinwoo's really warm hand.  There's already a crushing need to hug Jinwoo or compliment his smile and eyes;  Myungjun hates how easy it is to fall for charming strangers. 

Jinwoo clears his throat awkwardly, "We probably should've kept a better eye on her.  We just moved in down the hall.  I do not know how we forgot about keeping track of her."

If it had been anyone else, Myungjun probably would've called him incompetent or neglectful.  However, it's an infuriatingly cute new neighbor, so Myungjun giggles it off, "It could happen to anyone."

(Myungjun shelves his sarcasm, wit, and sass in order to appear nice.  Almost as nice as Bin who is already charming Minhyuk with a broad smile.)

 

//

 

Myungjun squints at the price of instant ramen, weighing his options.  Buying bulk usually meant that he would have more to eat in general, even taking into account the fact that Bin regularly eats  _his_ food that he paid for with  _his_ money.  However, it limits the diversity of flavors.

Besides individual packs are on sale, and it's only a hair more expensive than the bulk package.  He takes one at a time, counting the number of packages left that he needs to buy to actually qualify for the sale.

"Myungjun?"

He whips around to locate the person who called out his name.  Jinwoo waves at him with a wide, bright, gummy smile across his face.

Coincidence?  Fate?  Whatever it is, Myungjun contains his delight at running into his neighbor.  He manages to wave back at Jinwoo without giggling like a school girl.

Jinwoo walks over, glancing into Myungjun's basket, "How's it going?"

"Just, um, replenishing the ramen stocks.  How's your cat?"  Myungjun tries to distract Jinwoo by mentioning Aroha.  He doesn't necessarily have the healthiest eating habits. However, most of the time Dongmin comes over to cook because Sanha is just as useless in the kitchen as Myungjun, maybe even more so; and for some bewildering reason, Dongmin loves Sanha enough to make sure he eats well.

"Great, how's yours?"

Myungjun blinks, waiting for Jinwoo to walk back his question or even just realize his mistake.  But he doesn't.  "I don't have a cat," he replies awkwardly.

"Right," Jinwoo nods with an unaffected smile.

Oh, if only his smile didn't make Myungjun feel so gooey.  He has to do his best to embody Moon Bin, channel every single Bin-ism that he knows.  He will out-Bin Moon Bin if it gives him an edge when it comes to Jinwoo.

"What are you shopping for?" Myungjun throws out the question in an attempt to continue their conversation.  He would like to have a substantive crush and claim that he likes more than just Jinwoo's smile.

Jinwoo glances between his basket and Myungjun.  He puffs out his cheeks and shrugs, "Minhyuk wanted me to gather things, but I'm not super familiar with this store. I've been here for, like, an hour."

An opportunity.  Right in front of Myungjun.  "Do you want help?"

Jinwoo nods and levels up his smile, eyes scrunching up to make Myungjun swoon.

Myungjun manages to find the rest of the items on Jinwoo's list within fifteen minutes.  Jinwoo mumbles something about the heinous sorting.  In those fifteen minutes of leading Jinwoo around, Myungjun manages to find out that Jinwoo can play the drums, loves the color yellow, prefers summer over winter, and is (blessedly) single.

Unfortunately, Jinwoo doesn't really ask any questions of his own, so there isn't really a natural way for Myungjun to flirt or just share information.

Although he checks out first, Jinwoo hangs around to walk back to their building together.   Is he trying to charm Myungjun, or is he nice?  (Do all the nice people in the world just gravitate to Myungjun's building?)

The walk back is short, and Myungjun pushes the limits of friendly strolls by encroaching a little bit on Jinwoo's personal space.  Jinwoo doesn't say anything, but it feels more like he hasn't noticed rather than a permitted attempt at flirtation. (Myungjun wishes that he was more optimistic like Sanha or Dongmin.)

They finally part in front of Myungjun's door.  Jinwoo doesn't stop and just drops a nicety on his way back to his own apartment, "Have a nice night, Myungjun."

"You, too..." he murmurs quietly as he waves to Jinwoo's back.

He sighs deeply, resting his forehead against the door as he unlocks it.

His heart beats quickly, his toes tingle, and his cheeks glow.  Jinwoo is cute and nice and Myungjun might as well give up.  Crushes are burdensome, but goodness if he doesn't like the fuzzy feeling in his chest.

 

//

 

It's a rare and, quite frankly, bizarre sight to see Lee Dongmin jealous.

But, to be fair, Dongmin wasn't expecting to see his boyfriend having the time of his life with some strange guy that he doesn't know.  Myungjun thinks that he might actually punch Minhyuk.  Not that Dongmin knows who Minhyuk is or that he's harmless.

One second Dongmin is smiling and telling Myungjun about something that a coworker did, and the next, he has a stone-cold exterior, staring at Sanha trying to mimic the dance moves that Minhyuk is teaching him.  And apparently, Minhyuk is a hands-on teacher.

 The moment of jealousy lasts roughly two seconds because Minhyuk points out the statue of Dongmin to Sanha, and Sanha yells and waves vigorously at his boyfriend.

Honestly, Dongmin never stood a chance.

They give Myungjun hope.  Maybe someday he'll have that.  (Maybe at the moment, he wants to have that with Jinwoo.)

 

//

 

Myungjun has had a long day.  The only thing that sounds nice is a warm cup of tea.

He gets sidetracked when he hears mewing.  At first, he thinks that the stress of the day has led to auditory hallucinations.  However, it takes one look up to spot the source of the distressed noises, and lo and behold, Aroha is sitting on a branch.

He stares at the helpless kitten for a good five minutes, letting questions float in and out of his mind.  All of the questions are pointless because he's stuck trying to figure how to rescue Jinwoo's cat.

Myungjun hates,  _hates, **hates**_ climbing trees, but it's the only way to rescue this cat. What is a he, a firefighter?  He sighs, gripping the lowest branch. The things that he does for love.  (Oh shoot, did he just think that?)

He winces as he feels the bark dig into the skin of his hands, but he perseveres for another foot or so until Aroha is in reach.  Okay, so he didn't have to climb super high, but he's a grown man trying to save a kitten that allowed Yoon Sanha to cat-nap it.

Myungjun gets a hand on the cat without any real protest from Aroha, and it starts to become very clear how easy it was for Sanha pick her up.

He tucks Aroha against his chest and jumps down.  He lands on his ankle awkwardly.  He stumbles backward, straight into a warm body.  Hands grip his shoulders to steady his landing, and a familiar voice says, "Hello."

Myungjun turns his head and accidentally comes nose-to-nose with Park Jinwoo.  He has a moment where his heart stops, his eyelashes flutter, and he almost leans in Jinwoo's very solid body.  He's in kissing distance, and his brain short circuits for a brief moment.  He stutters out an airy, "Jin-Jinwoo."

"You saved Aroha," he comments with a grin and lets go of Myungjun's shoulders, effectively breaking the enchantment.

Myungjun remembers the cat in his arms and tries not to think about how close he was to kissing Jinwoo.  He holds out Aroha, "Yup."

"Thanks, Myungjun!"  Jinwoo holds his cat, stroking the space between her ears.  "She's kinda useless, but I think that she's our good luck charm."

Myungjun takes a step forward and is promptly reminded that he hurt himself.  His ankle aches, but he keeps his whining internal.

Once again, Myungjun is walking home with Jinwoo.  This time, however, Jinwoo is wholly focused on his cat.  He whispers apologies to his kitten and pets her in a soothing manner for the entire elevator ride.  It's cute.  Even when Jinwoo isn't paying attention to him, Myungjun thinks he's cute.  Darn it.

When they reach Myungjun's apartment, Jinwoo addresses him, "Hey, Myungjun?"

Hopes swells up in Myungjun's heart.  He can see Jinwoo searching for words from the way that he's holding his breath.  For a millisecond, Myungjun thinks that maybe,  _just maybe_ Jinwoo likes him.

"Is Moon Bin single?"

Myungjun can't hide the shock and surprise, but he manages to keep the hurt from bleeding through into his expression.  He takes a moment to recover, "Yes. He is.  Sorry, I wasn't expecting that."

He can't get into the apartment fast enough.

He hates Moon Bin.

No he doesn't, but he's certainly unhappy that Moon freaking Bin smiled his way into Jinwoo's heart.

"Are you okay?" Bin asks, poking his head out of the kitchen because Myungjun has been standing in the foyer, dejected, for the past few minutes.

"I'm a really nice person, Bin.  Really nice," he mutters before stalking off to his room (where he definitely doesn't plan on crying).

Bin nods in agreement, "You are."

Why is Moon Bin so nice when Myungjun's trying to be mad at him?

 

//

 

Myungjun knows how to sulk.  He has perfected it to an art.  He looks out the window longingly and offers short responses to any comments directed toward him.  He listens to power ballads.  He sighs while eating his ramen.  Remember that one time when he ran into Jinwoo when he was shopping for ramen?

(Sanha nudges his boyfriend,"Dongmin, do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Nope."

"Bin, do you know what's wrong with him?"

"No.  I haven't even eaten any of his ramen."

"He won't even yell at me," Sanha whispers longingly.)

 

//

 

Myungjun runs into Jinwoo in the mail area.

"Hey," Jinwoo says forcefully.

Myungjun offers a small tilt of the head.  He lies to himself and says that he's not at all bitter that Jinwoo likes Bin.  He also lies when he thinks that he never even liked Jinwoo anyway.  Another lie that runs through his head: Jinwoo is not pulling off that sweater.

Jinwoo stares at him while he unlocks his mailbox.

"Kim Myungjun."

Myungjun looks at Jinwoo who staring so intently that it might bore holes into Myungjun's head.  

"Yes?"

Jinwoo rushes his words, "To be clear, Minhyuk likes Moon Bin and I was just asking for him because he knows that you would know whether or not Bin is romantically involved with anyone.  I didn't mean to imply that  _I_ wanted to know if he was dating anyone because that misconstrues my feelings toward Bin.  Which I feel that I need to clarify because I do not like Moon Bin in that way because I like you."  (He practically shouts the 'I like you' bit.)

Myungjun blinks, trying to comprehend the entire spiel that Jinwoo clearly practiced.

Jinwoo, on the other hand, seems to realize that he definitely just shouted that he liked Myungjun.  He tries to run away but runs straight into the wall.

"OW!" He shouts, bringing his hands to his face.

Myungjun rushes toward Jinwoo.  He asks, "Are you okay?"

"No."

Myungjun tries to pull Jinwoo's hands off of his face but is met with resistance.  "Pull your hands away.  I need to make sure your face is okay." 

"No," Jinwoo whines, "I'm super embarrassed and I know that my face is all red."

"Is it because you like me or because you ran into a wall?"

"Both," he replies forcefully.

Myungjun bites back a grin, "Do you like _like_ me?"

"I like like like like like  _like_ times a million you."

"Well, I like like like like like  _like_ times a million you, too."

 

//

 

("YOON SANHA!"

"Dongmin, look at that, he yelled at me.")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel the need to apologize for some reason? no one asked for this. but like astro makes me feel things, and jinjin and mj make me feel things.
> 
> well, it happened, and i would appreciate feedback. even if it's like: pls never do this again.
> 
> did i mention that i'm sorry?


	2. #awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saying nothing probably would've been better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops i'm sorry. it won't happen again. but i needed to write this lil moment b/n jinjin and rocky.
> 
> closer to a drabble... but whatever.

Jinwoo is willing to admit that he does awkward things.  There's a lag between his brain and his mouth, and it can lead to some unfortunate phrases.  Sometimes he pretends that he didn't say it all and just prays the person with whom he's speaking lets it go.

Add the awkward demeanor to feelings and Jinwoo becomes a walking, talking disaster.  So, it was inevitable that meeting a more than cute boy by the name of Kim Myungjun would spell disaster for Jinwoo.  For the life of him, he cannot flirt.  That delay between his mouth and brain and thoughts triples in length whenever he sees Myungjun.

It's difficult to attempt sweeping someone off of their feet when your mouth operates independently of your brain.  Jinwoo remembers asking Myungjun about his cat, and it was horrific.  Myungjun was nice about it, sure, but Jinwoo would give anything to redo that moment.  At the time, it seemed like the worst thing that he could have ever said, but Jinwoo manages to do it.

The moment happens in slow motion, and the very second that he actually processes it, he wants to die.  Right there, in front of Myungjun's apartment.  Four words that he wishes didn't exist:

"Is Moon Bin single?"

Less than five minutes after restraining himself from planting a big fat kiss on Myungjun's lips, he asks if Moon Bin is dating anyone.  If that doesn't send the wrong message to a person that he might be crazy about, Jinwoo doesn't know what would.

He watches the hope Myungjun's eyes fall flat as his expression veers toward surprise. Jinwoo sees a flicker of hurt and desperately wishes that he would have just gone back to his apartment instead of thinking about how to help Minhyuk.  He wishes he could curse too, but he can't, not in front of Myungjun.

Myungjun blinks it off with the shake of a head, "Yes.  He is.  Sorry, I wasn't expecting that."

Jinwoo knows, and he is already trying to piece together an eloquent explanation that cuts around the part that he thinks that Myungjun's lips look very kissable.  He doesn't get to say any of it because Myungjun rushes back into his home and slams the door on Jinwoo.

He deserves that.

He also cannot believe that he just implied that he was attracted to Bin.  He really just shot himself in the foot on this one.  His already slim chances with Myungjun are shrinking by the second.

He returns to his own home, setting Aroha on the ground before promptly slamming his head into the wall.

"Dude," Minhyuk remarks from the kitchen table.

Jinwoo sulks and trudges over to the table.  "I have good news, and I have bad news.  Which do you want first?"

"Good news."

He takes a deep breath, "Moon Bin is single."

Minhyuk claps in delight.  He notes Jinwoo's darkening mood and puts his hands on the table, "And the bad?"

"I kind of, sort of, definitely implied that I was into Moon Bin.  After I almost kissed Myungjun."

"Bro."

Jinwoo pouts, "I swear I was two seconds from asking him on a date, and then Moon Bin came out.  Now I just want to die because Myungjun thinks I'm into Bin."

"Just tell him that you like him?"  Minhyuk suggests in the form of a question.

"Minhyuk, I am about as charming as a jar of pickles.  How am I going to word something well enough to convince Myungjun that I am worth his time?"

He scoffs, "Practice and hope to god that he likes pickles."

 

//

 

That's what Jinwoo does.  He creates a speech that explains everything in its entirety, and he practices.  By the time that he actually runs into Myungjun, he has gone through rewrites and refined it.

He practiced it over a hundred times, and all that he can hope is that practices makes perfect.

It doesn't.

He yells at Myungjun and runs straight into a wall while trying to escape his own awkwardness.

Thank goodness Myungjun isn't the slightest bit deterred by Jinwoo and his awkwardness.  But hey, Myungjun really likes him too.


End file.
